A Glowing Review

A couple of weeks ago, Aqua Man was out of town, traveling on back to back business trips. During the times that Aqua Man is out of town, especially during longer trips, I try to shake things up around dinner time as this is usually when The Kid starts to feel tired from his day, and misses his dad the most. On this particular night, The Kid was helping me get dinner together, when I suddenly decided that we would eat dinner in the family room, while watching TV, while sitting on the carpet. It would be like a little family room picnic, which is an experience reserved for "Movie Night" which usually takes place on the weekends. Did you see what I did there? I shook things up! Well, The Kid was very enthusiastic about this idea. He jumped up and down, and gave me a huge hug. And when we sat down to eat together, he settled into his spot on the carpet, put his plate on the coffee table, looked me right in the eyes, and said, "You are the best mom, ever. And, mom, listen. It's not because you're letting me watch TV, but because you take care of me, you get me good food from the grocery store, and you make me great dinners. Seriously, you are the best mom. Ever."

Okay, I know he was excited by the twist in plans. I know that watching TV, while eating, while having a weekday "floor picnic" was the impetus for this emotional outpouring, but, it was really touching. So, I told him that out of all the things I do, I care most about trying to be the best mom that I can be. And The Kid said, "Mom, you're doing it even better than you're trying to do."

Wow, now that's a glowing review.

Not Even Close To Being The Proper Scale

So, the morning after Christmas, The Kid climbed into bed with Aqua Man and I, and, after about 2 seconds of laying still, he began to jump on the bed, announcing that he was READY TO GET UP NOW!!!! He then quickly moved from jumping on the bed to performing the likes of a self-authored comedy act which included singing, telling jokes, kinda-tap-dancing, and acrobats. When we could finally catch our breathe after laughing hysterically, I asked The Kid, "So, on a scale of 1-10, how much energy would you say that you have this morning?" The Kid instantly yelled out, "150,000!!!!!"

Although this moment came the day after, without a doubt, this was one of our best Christmas memories, ever.

Wishing you, and your families, joy, peace, and laughter throughout the holiday season, well into the New Year.

Count Down To Christmas Day

Every morning this month, The Kid gets out of bed, asks what the date is, then heads to his chocolate Christmas countdown calendar to open a tiny paper window which has the date printed on it, and, behind the window, a piece of chocolate in a range of holiday designs. This morning, after asking about today's date, I took The Kid into the kitchen to show him our terribly boring, non-chocolate calendar. As I pointed to today's date, December 22nd, I asked The Kid, "What number is this?" He excitedly yelled out, "Twenty-TOOTH!" Sweet!

The First SNOW DAY!!!!!

And this clip mildly expresses the excitement The Kid feels about this "SUPER DUPER COOL AWESOME" development! He now has school off until well after the New Year. WOO-HOO!

Schooling The Kid on Christmas Past

This is the song we listened to today while making Christmas cards for a few people on The Kid's list. He was diggin' it. (Sorry about the ad that pops up before the video...it was there already and I can't remove.)

And, for those of you who take your Old School Christmas Lyrics serious, here's the lyrics to "Your A Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and a bit more about the song. Groovy.

Too Much Before 10:00 a.m.?

I still haven't finished my first, full cup of coffee, yet I've some how been able to pull off dancing, singing and staging "Kung Fu combat" with The Kid in our small family room. The inspiration? The song "Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting" and the You Tube video of Shaolin Monk's performing demonstrations of Kung Fu. Naturally. You can see it all here.

Yes, I will accept that "Mother of the Year Award" now. Thanks.

This Was Not Annoying

The Kid's vocabulary and fascination with language are growing rapidly these days. During just these first few weeks of Kindergarten he has become increasingly excited with letters, new words and the meaning of words. He has always been a language kid; he talked at a very early age, he was also fascinated by books and reading at an early age, and now, he's curious and motivated to try and read and write on his own. Still, despite these realities it still kinda throws me for a loop when he throws out an understanding of language that sounds like it should be coming from an older child. Case in point, we were sitting at the table eating lunch together before school today, talking about-meta-ing, if you will-the word "annoying." What does it mean? Why would one use that word? Who would use it? After one attempt to define it for him, The Kid interrupts me and excitedly says, "I'll tell you something that's annoying. If you were a dog and you had a flea on your back, and you couldn't reach it! That's annoying. What? Why are you laughing? I saw it on "Martha Speaks" yesterday. It really was annoying!"

Greetings From The Bahamas

Today was my eighth physical therapy session, and I received a great report from my physical therapist. He was busy saying things like "good job" and "way to go" and "that's it" throughout our entire session today. I even got a "that's huge!" while working on the leg press machine when he realized that, from last week until today, I had increased my leg strength and he could switch me to a higher band of resistance. I also doubled the number of reps I was able to complete. It was a much needed positive session, especially after the really tough backslide I had two weeks ago. In fact, my physical therapist thinks that I'll need just a couple of more sessions and our work together will be done.

Over the last two weeks, as I've had ups and downs with my healing process, I've learned that reconnecting with proper core and hip alignment is essential for proper knee alignment. And today, particularly, I learned one humbling lesson: my "core" muscles, or tummy muscles, well, they've seemed to have left the building, so to speak. I was wiggling and wobbling and had very, very little "core" to speak of while trying to complete a particular cross training exercise. So, yes, they have definitely left the building in the past months. I'm guessing that they've been on vacation? Probably in the Bahamas, if they know how to really take a break.

Before We Get To Tonight, We've Got To Get Through This

As I wrote yesterday, The Kid is psyched for the new Clone Wars weekly show which premiers tonight. However, before he can even think about this exciting event, he has been looking forward to watching his very favorite show "Fetch!" And, today is a most exciting event. A special, extended Fetch mini-marathon, if you will.

When I say "looking forward to" I mean that The Kid has been very persistent in tracking exactly when this show will play. He's been asking "When will it come on? Is today the day? No? Hmmm. How about tomorrow? No? Okay, well maybe you should write it on the calendar so you don't forget (I did!). Then, maybe we should look at the calendar again just to make sure we haven't mixed the days up and somehow missed the show." He's been asking about it while he's eating, getting ready for school, taking a shower, going to bed, and pretty much every other moment.

Now, in all fairness, I can be quite the TV junky myself. I have been known to write the premiers of beloved TV shows in my personal planner. I've been known to lock myself in our bedroom at night to take a break from life by watching reruns of "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", uninterrupted, even though I've seen them all at least 5 times (Hey, it chills me out! I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't like video games. It's my form of escapism, what can I say.). So, I get where The Kid is coming from. Looking forward to a TV show can feel like a major event is going to happen. I get it, I really do. I just don't dog people incessantly about my favorite shows for days and sometimes weeks on end. I guess that's just one of the differences between being 38 years old and being 5 1/2 years old. When you're my age, obsessive-compulsive tendencies are no longer seen as "cute."

So, finally Fetch is on (!), and just to add a bit more excitement for him, I picked him up from school and, as a surprise, I brought him cookies baked by Aqua Man last night (They were very good. Thanks Aqua Man!). That's a pretty good start to his big Friday night, if I do say so myself.

However, after the cookies were consumed, I realized, perhaps too late, that I may be slightly out of my mind to mix double chocolate fudge cookies with extended cartoon watching. But, what can I say, that's how I do it.

Best Music Ever To Help Get Me Through An MRI

An Open Thank You Letter to Billy Bragg & Wilco:

Dear Billy Bragg and Wilco,

While I'm quite sure you will never stumble upon this tiny, blog of mine, I still feel compelled to write and to use this as a forum to say "thank you." Although you will most likely never, ever read the words that I write, I hope that after I hit the "Publish Post" button below, you will feel a rush of warm, heartfelt energy coming to you both, where ever you are.

I just wanted to thank you for helping me get through an MRI that I had to have the other evening (stupid, dumb accident in which I hurt my knee...if, by the off, off chance you are reading this, you can go here and here to get some context) to help the doctors figure out the next step-no pun intended-in my course of healing. I do, indeed, very, very much dislike MRI's. I had the unfortunate experience of having an MRI in 2001, and found out the hard way that I am, in fact, claustrophobic. And, well, let's just say that being claustrophobic does not help one become relaxed while in an MRI tube. Right.

So, when I learned that I had to have an MRI--even, an open MRI--for my knee prognosis, I seriously wondered if walking on crutches, having limited mobility, and pain in my knee for the rest of my life might not be that bad?

And that's where you both came in. While reading the "How to Prepare for Your MRI" sheet that I was given--and being seriously disappointed to learn that there would not be a body double provided for me who would volunteer their injured, stunt knee and go through the MRI for me--I was relieved to learn that I could bring a CD of my choice to help pass the time during the 40 minute procedure. That's long, right? That's what I thought,too.

Honestly, I have to fess up and say that (while actively applying denial and avoidance) I forgot all about being able to take a CD with me, and at the last minute I had Aqua Man run to the car and grab our CD holders. I hurriedly flipped through all the choices, "No, no, no. God, no!" Wondering, 'What music does one listen to while in an MRI, while actively trying to suppress a panic attack? Nothing too fast, or too depressing, or annoying, for sure.' And, then I saw it, "Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue." Your CD. Perfect! Please don't let my last minute choice take away from the importance of your music. I truly, truly could not have made it through this procedure without it, and a lot of deep breathing and guided imagery techniques. All of which went very well with your tunes. Also, I have to say that I was amazed to learn that Jeff Tweedy, leader of Wilco, has been open about the fact that he suffers from panic attacks, and that this was the very CD I picked out to help me cope with not having a panic attack! Without this CD I truly may have left that room, never to have a proper diagnosis. So thank you to both of you for sharing your talent, your musical styles, and thank you to Woody Guthrie for writing such amazing songs.

Below you can find the songs that I listened to while laying "half way" in the MRI (BTW: Before going in, I was told that I would only be put in "half way." My definition of half my body is my waist; their definition of half my body" was just my chest. Quite a few precious inches of a difference!)...

"California" (Video has time delay-ok, you've been forewarned. Still, enjoy!)


"At My Window Sad and Lonely"


"Another Man's Done Gone Key"


"Ingrid Bergman"


"She Came Along To Me"


I had to ask the MRI tech to fast forward "Hoodoo Voodoo" and "Christ for President"-both great songs-because I was getting a leetle bit hyped up! She was a good sport about it all.

Over all, a brilliant CD for the occasion, one in which I hope to never have again. I do, however, look forward to when my knee is healed and I can take a long, proper drive, with all of the windows down, blasting this CD at top volume.

With Much Gratitude (and relief),
Yoga Grl

Calling It As He Sees It

Over the years I've come up with a few enduring nicknames for The Kid and one of them is "bumps." He's always been a very physical child and although he is a movement oriented person with a sense of grace, he still collects a good deal of bumps and bruises, especially on his legs.

Last night I had to have an MRI as ordered by the Orthopedic doctor I'm now seeing about my knee. Aqua Man and The Kid drove me to my appointment, and when we arrived at the parking lot I said to The Kid, "Okay, bumps, we're here." I realized the irony in calling The Kid that nickname at the exact moment I was grappling with swinging my injured knee out the door with out smacking my leg or dropping my crutches on the ground.

So I said, "It's funny that I'm calling you bumps, when I'm the one on crutches."

The Kid giggled, and said "Yea, that's right Mommy!"

Adding, "You're the one with the STICKS!"

Morning Mush

This morning, The Kid woke up around 6:30 a.m. which is about an hour earlier than his usual wake up time. I was in the middle of my yoga practice, in the dark, on my mat, when he walked into the room and startled me. Well, actually, we both startled each other. After a short hug and moments of answering his questions about what yoga posture I was doing, and what kind of breathing makes that noise, etc., The kid suddenly perked up and said, "Hey, why aren't you snuggling me in bed, Mommy?" At first I didn't get what he was saying, but then I realized that some mornings, time allowing, I would sit on the side of his bed, rubbing his back, snuggling, and slowly helping to wake him up. But over the months this has been less and less as we've gotten busier, and The Kid has grown.

But this morning, since The Kid was up so early he expected his morning snuggle. He was a bit taken aback that I hadn't thought of it myself (Um, okay, listen. You just walked out. It's still dark. Coffee is a distant thought. Work with me, will you?) Yea, what was I thinking? HELLO! You are awake, I am awake. There-fore I should be snuggling you, not practicing yoga in the dark . Of course, makes perfect sense.

So, we lay down together and after a few moments of quiet, The Kid turned to me and began a word game that we used to play when he was younger.

"Mommy, I love you SOOOOOO much."

"I love you, SOOOOOO much."

"Mommy, I love you one hundred-fifty thousand!"

"Wow. I love you one million!"

"Mommy, I love you fifty million!"

"Well, I love you to the moon and back. "

"Mommy, I love you to Kenya. And to Florida and Chicago and New York."
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Awesome!

Who Likes To Win? Raise Your Hand!: The Remix

Well, as I wrote last Monday, The Kid started soccer and his coach is, well, um, a little...hyper. So practice was again yesterday, and the kids weren't on the field two minutes before the coach asked for a show of hands revealing those who like to win vs. those who like to lose.

Okay, we get it! You LOVE winning. And your number one coaching goal is to take our 4 and 5 year old children and turn them into lean, mean, winning soccer machines. You dream of us taking our kids home and speaking of nothing but the importance of winning--how great it is; how important it is; how good it feels. All right, already!

Poor guy. It's very comical, actually, as these kids can barely run without falling, tripping (themselves and each other), and talking the whole time. I think this coach might have been better suited to teach older kids who actually understand the fundamentals of the game, and can actually, um, play. Perhaps this would have helped lead him to his ultimate goal of coaching a winning team.

My other favorite "coach" moment from yesterday came from listening to him while he was running a lap with the kids. He yelled out, completely serious, "Come on! Let's go, let's go. If you have the energy to talk, you have the energy to run!" It totally reminded me of the moment from the movie, Reality Bites. You know the part where LeLaina Pierce (Winona Ryder) was being interviewed by the Manager, (David Spade) at the fast-food place? And he said, "If you've got time to lean, you've got time to clean" to an employee as they walked past him during her "tour." 

Yes, it was that ridiculous. Not to mention hilarious.

Five Cents Worth of Scare

Last night The Kid swallowed a nickel while he was in his room--the same damn nickel that we had been telling him ALL DAY LONG to STOP PUTTING IN, NEAR, OR BY HIS MOUTH. The same damn nickel that we had taken away from him earlier in the day. (When he went to bed, he must have taken it and brought it with him as we had no idea that he still had it.) He came running out (thank god), totally freaked out and crying hysterically. We had no idea what had happened to him, and it was a few seconds of being really scared and trying to figure out what was wrong. Thankfully, he was not choking; however he was still able to feel it in his throat, and was totally scared that this object was now inside of his body. We calmed him down, and immediately called our insurance which has a 24-hour nurse available for questions. She ran through what we should and shouldn't do, and what to keep an eye on. Then this morning I called our pediatrician and let her know.

I kept The Kid home with me today in order to make sure things are all good. And now the "fun" begins...and that's all I'm going to say on that front.

Those Damn Monkey Bars

Yesterday The Kid slipped off the monkey bars while we were at the park and hurt his foot and ankle. He landed hard on one of those faux black top surfaces, the kind that, thankfully, has some cushion to it. I was watching him when he fell, and saw him hit the ground. Hard. When I saw the position of his foot and ankle, I immediately thought that we would be rushing to the doctors. I fully expected him to have a bad sprain, or worse. So I couldn't believe that after he calmed down and I looked at his foot and ankle, that, for the most part, he was okay. He was in a bit of pain, but nothing terrible, and his ankle wasn't hugely swollen as I feared. So last night I elevated his foot, iced it, and put some Arnica Gel on it.

This morning he was still a bit sore and slightly limping. I brought him in to see our pediatrician--we waited for over an hour, which was really annoying--and she said that he most likely strained his Achilles tend ion. So today became all about keeping The Kid off of his foot, which was at times not too bad, and at other times, um, not easy.

Then, even though we called our land lord three days ago to come and fix several things, he decided to show up today to fix everything. Hooray! So, I had The Kid on the couch, totally loopy, and the land lord walking around the house, talking to me. I couldn't put The Kid down for a nap, even though he desperately needed one. And my work? Yeah, not happening. Finally, I just packed The Kid and my laptop in the car in hopes of driving him into a nap, something I haven't done in years. He did fall asleep, and I parked at the local park, opened my lap top, and then realized that all the work I had to do required the Internet. And guess what? They don't have wireless Internet at the park! Just monkey bars, and such. So I packed back up and drove home. Only to come back to an unlocked door and no land lord. Then he came back again and said, "Oops! Sorry I forgot to lock your door." Okay, whatever, everything appeared to still be present and accounted for. It...happens. Then he said,"Oh, and I'll have to come back tomorrow to finish fixing xyz, if I can find the needed parts." So, I was thinking...okay, see you tomorrow then? Same thing, different day? Great!

I was able to transfer The Kid from the car to his bed without him waking up and that's when I realized that today is the last day of January! Crap. That meant I had just one more day to take care of something that I have been putting off--a preliminary talk and a task--for a long, long time. So, I made a phone call to someone, asked some questions, and said what I needed to say. It was something that I did not want to do, but rather, I knew that I had to do. I'm glad I finally did it, but this was just the first step. More will come of it, and this preliminary discussion will lead to another conversation which will probably lead to a further uncomfortable conversation with someone else. I don't like uncomfortable conversations. But, I just couldn't avoid it anymore. *yuck* But, it is, what it is.

So, pretty much, that was my day. And now I'm ready to veg out a bit!

Who Likes To Win? Raise Your Hand!

Yesterday was the first day of soccer class for The Kid. He has been so excited for this day to finally arrive that since the first week of December, which is when we signed him up, he has literally been counting down the days. Yesterday morning, he cracked his eyes open and yelled out, "It's today! TODAY! Soccer starts today!!! Yea!! " Then he began to jump up and down on his bed, while yelling out, "I love you Mommy! I love you Daddy!" I guess he figured he better butter us up, since one of us would be driving him that day!

So, we made it through school and work and driving to the practice location. We unloaded, all "geared up," which in this case just meant that The Kid was wearing black and grey warm up pants, a long sleeved black t-shirt, a white sports shirt over that, spanking white cleats, and a too long pair of soccer socks. They were so long that they could have reached all the way up to his hips had I let him pull them up all the way. He was SO excited to be in these new soccer clothes and shoes, that I didn't want to say anything to him. But frankly, when I looked at him, it didn't work well together. In a way, he was kind of previewing what he might look like, say, when he's 80 years old, walking around the retirement community. His shirt and shoes were SO white against the black. Honestly, I was a bit relieved when he decided, on his own, to add a dark sweatshirt over the white and black shirt combo. It kind of toned it all down, bringing him out of the retirement look, back into the preschool sports arena.

So practice starts and the coach warms the kids up and they all spend some time learning a few basics of the game. All is going well. Then the coach stops the kids, calls them over, gathering them into a group around him, and begins to ask them questions:

Coach: Okay, who knows why we're here?

Soccer Kid #1: To play soccer! (Insert, cheers and claps from the rest of the kids)

Coach: That's right. To play soccer. And why do we play soccer together? What kinds of things happen when we play soccer?!

Soccer Kid #2: We work as a team!

Coach: (Obviously caught off guard by this wise insight) Ugh...that's right. We work as a team. What else? What else?

Soccer Kid#3: We have FUN! (Insert cheers and claps from the rest of the kids)

Coach: Yes, fun. That's good. But WHAT ELSE! What else happens when we play soccer?

Soccer Kid #4: We move our bodies and get EXERCISE!

Coach: [Looking a bit exasperated] Yes, yes, okay, exercise. That's good. But WHAT ELSE?

Soccer Kids: [Silence. Head scratching. Nose picking. Nothing. Notta.]

Coach: What else?! What ELSE happens when we play soccer? Someone...

Coach: Someone...

Coach: Someone WINS and someone LOSES.

Soccer Kids: Yea! Someone wins and someone loses!!

Coach: Who Likes to Win? Raise Your Hand!

Soccer Kids: [All the kids raise their hands, jump up and down, and run around]

Coach: Who likes to lose? Raise Your Hand!

Soccer Kids: [About half of the kids raise their hands, including The Kid. They all keep running around with excitement.]

Coach: Okay...well, um, yeah. I guess, it's not always about winning. But, it's better to win, right?!

Hmm...I have to say, I wasn't expecting that from the coach, especially on the first day of soccer practice for a bunch of 4 and 5 year old kids!

Well, The Kid had a great time and said that it was all that he had hoped for. And the "winning and losing" moment aside, it was truly awesome to watch him have so much fun and to feel proud of his accomplishments. I have a feeling, though, that this coach will give us all a lot of opportunities to talk about "winning" and "losing."
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My first yoga teacher and mentor used to say that when others challenged my view of the world or when difficulties came up when interacting with others, I should take it as an opportunity to learn and grow. She suggested that I mentally thank the person by saying this mantra, "Thank you for giving me this life lesson." So, here's to life lessons, however, and where ever, they show up.

Living In A Van Down By The River

Since relocating one year and eight months ago from the suburbs of the Big City, which was in another state, to our current digs--I'll call it "Sunny City in Sunny State"--we have very much changed the landscape of our lives, as well as our neighborhood. Where we used to live in a state that had four seasons, we now live in a state with four types of year round warm weather. In my short, almost two years here, I've experienced the seasons as follows:

1) Lovely, breezy and warm. Agh. I love it here.
2) OMG, I can barely breathe it is SO hot and humid. What were we thinking?
3) Wow, it really is sunny. All the time. I mean, I like sun as much as the next person, but my skin is aging from just driving around town. Jeez.
4) Hmm. I didn't know it could rain this much and be hot and humid. Interesting.

Other than the weather, another big difference in the landscape of our lives is that we now live by a river. And with the river, in this particular neighborhood, comes...cats. LOTS AND LOTS OF CATS! Let me explain.

Although we don't actually live in a van, we really do live "down by the river." Our current neighborhood is only one block away from the cities winding river that stretches and snakes it way through several neighborhoods. I've never lived by a river before, and although I can give you some intelligent guesses, I can't tell you the exact reasons why this particular neighborhood has so many cats. But it does. They are everywhere. You see them when you walk. When you bike. When you drive. And now they are TAKING OVER our home. Our backyard. And our driveway. And our front porch. And our fence. And our shed. And now, our cars.

This morning as we were all getting into the car, heading out for our day of carpooling, work and school, we were all struck by an unbelievably strong, foul smell. The Kid yelled out, "Ugh! Mommy, what is that smell?" And Aqua Man yelled out, "Ugh? What the hell is that smell?" I knew...it had to be something with the cats. I looked around to find the evidence and that's when I saw sizeable "water" stains right in front of the tires on one car, and the front tire of our other car, and a smell that, well, I won't describe for you. I realized that now the cats are SPRAYING the tires of our cars, trying to mark out "their" territories. GRRRROOOOSSSS!!!!!!!!

After months of seeing up to 5 different cats a day "visit" and lay all over our back deck, and fence, and front porch, and sometimes under our parked cars, and occasionally hearing late night cat fights, they've graduated to marking our cars. I do have to say, that over the months, we haven't done much to try and keep the cats off our property. Up until this point, I've just personally felt like, hey, we all live here together in this neighborhood, so let's just share the space and make it work. But marking our cars? That's a deal breaker for me. I don't want anything bad to happen to the cats, but I do want them to back off!

So, on an already busy day filled with many things to do, today I add the following:

1) Find a holistic/alternative way to get cats to stay off our property and, for the love of all that's good in the universe, to stop, well, frankly, pissing on our cars.

I've heard that pure, essential Peppermint Oil is a natural determent. But it's expensive, and with this much marking, how much will I have to buy to stop this madness?

A Very Busy Day

This past weekend we met up with some friends and took The Kid and his friend to an event sponsored by the city. This event is highly anticipated in this city and celebrated with people dressing themselves and their kids, dogs, strollers, wagons, and bikes in costumes (and no, just for the record, we don't dress up. Just the kids. Although, if it was possible, I would enjoy dressing my cat up in a little outfit. But alas, he doesn't like to go to crowded city events). There is a parade, air show, and fireworks with lots of food and booths. It's a big to do for this area so we took it all in and stayed out pretty late, especially because we had to wait out a big storm before we could all drive home.

At breakfast the next morning, I sipped my coffee and looked up at The Kid who sat across from us eating a donut, a leftover from our requested snack contribution to his preschool earlier in the week. His mouth was happily filled with donut, crumbs falling out. He was really digging in (probably thinking, 'I better eat this thing before her caffeine kicks in and she realizes she's given me pure sugar before 9:00 a.m. Donuts twice in one week! This is like a Christmas miracle!') with his head down, all focus on that donut.

When he finally lifted his head, and came up for both air and soy milk, I realized that his eyes still looked so sleepy. So I asked, "You look a little tired this morning. Are you still tired?" With a mouthful of donut, he quickly replied, "Well, it's because yesterday I had such a garble-garble day." I swear it sounded like he had said "such an amazing" day, and that choice of words would be, well, amazing. So I asked, "Did you just say you had 'such an amazing day' yesterday?" He paused to take a drink, washing down his donut. It was a clear sacrifice for him to converse with me while a donut was present, but he pushed on.

"No." he corrected, "I said I had a BUSY day yesterday. You know, sitting, then standing, then sitting, then standing. Sitting. Standing...BUSY!"

Yeah, I understand. Busy. Jeez!

Parenting Zen

Almost everyday, I find myself saying things to The Kid that are utterly ridiculous, and make me want to fall out laughing. During most of these moments, I am usually correcting a strange behavior or surreal statement from The Kid. (And believe you me, at almost 5 years old, there seems to be no shortage of these moments lately!) While I realize that I am supposed to be teaching him about right and wrong in these moments, all I really want to do is laugh. Sometimes I want to yell out, "Why, why, why do I have to be the parent right now? I mean, this is funny. Funny, I tell you! "

So, I present you with tonight's moment of "Parenting Zen" which occurred during dinner. (Note: Tonight we had "Breakfast for dinner." This meant Dad's Famous Cinnamon French Toast or DFCFT with fresh strawberries for dinner. Woo-hoo!)

The Scene: We are all sitting at the table eating, all is going well, and The Kid is just about to begin eating his third piece of DFCFT, which is no small thing these days, since he's suddenly reverted to being a very fussy eater. All is going well, good manners are being exhibited, and then...

The Kid: Picks up the syrup bottle, and slowly pours some onto his third piece of DFCFT. He begins to put the bottle back on the table, but instead abruptly lifts the bottle towards his mouth. I see him stick his tongue out and LICK the syrup bottle, right on the cap. Before I can say anything, he sticks his tongue out again, and goes in for a second lick.

Me: "No!! Don't lick the syrup bottle!"

The Kid: Freezing with total surprise at my outburst, quickly regroups and calmly replies, "But mommy. The syrup was dripping!"

Me: "Okay, honey (stifling extreme laughter). Then you can use your napkin to wipe it.

Oh, the wisdom of it all:)